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The Family Support Group offers practical and/or emotional support to families going through a difficult period. Family Support Group aims to offer its services to families from all sections of the community and therefore seeks to involve volunteers who will respect and value individual differences as reflected through social background, ethnic origin, religious values, age, disability and sexuality.

The role of volunteers in the family support group

To provide emotional and practical support to families.
To attend induction training and ongoing training.
To attend monthly supervision and 6 weekly support group meetings.
To keep their supervisor informed of any issues or family difficulties that may arise and where appropriate to liase with other agencies
To work within FSG’s guidelines.

Recruitment Procedure

All potential volunteers are asked to provide details of any previous convictions and provide the names and addresses of 2 referees and give any information required for a police check. (Previous convictions will not automatically mean that a potential volunteer would be turned down).

Prospective volunteers are given an interview before being accepted as a volunteer.

Volunteers Job Description

To work with families as set out in the family contract signed by the volunteer, family and referring agent.
To attend introductory and on-going training.
To communicate with the Co-ordinator and where applicable with the referrer.
To participate in 6 weekly support groups and attend monthly supervision

Volunteers must be able to:

Commit 2-3 hours a week for meetings with families plus attend monthly supervision and six weekly supported group meetings for a minimum of 6 months.
Demonstrate common sense maturity and show personal warmth
Be flexible in responding to an array of family situations and be able to get on well with both adults and children.
Understand and adhere to FSG boundaries in their relationships with families.
Must respect and value individual differences.
Must be able to work within FSG’S equal opportunities policy and follow confidentiality rules and regulations.
Follow set boundaries that are laid out by the FSG.
Follow all rules and regulations with regards to health and safety.

Expenses

Volunteers can claim travel expenses for:

Visits to families and attendance support, supervision and training meetings.
Family support group will pay mileage to drivers, bus fares and/or train fares. Up to the cost of a 1-4 day travelcard
Volunteers can also claim for specified logged telephone calls e.g. to the family or to liase with other organisations.

Insurance

Volunteers carrying out tasks on behalf of FSG are covered in respect of such task (i.e. for accident or injury to themselves or to anyone in their care)

References

Family Support Group are pleased to provide references for volunteers and evidence

Of the time they have contributed to the FSG.

What do I gain as a volunteer?

FSG aims to ensure that all volunteers have the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and information to enable them to carry out their tasks effectively and with confidence. We also believe that volunteers deserve to gain from the time they give.

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